Greek Press

SIMERINI: “They’re bringing a constitution from Turkey”. Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Mehmet Ali Talat and ‘foreign minister’ Serdar Denktash flew to Turkey on Tuesday in order to discuss the Turkish Cypriot constituent state’s eventual constitution. Rauf Denktash is expected to fly out today for the same reason and it is believed the Turkish Cypriot state’s constitution will be based on the one in operation in the ‘TRNC’ today.

PHILELEFTHEROS: “Warming up to security issues”. Greek and Turkish officials are set to meet to discuss security and guarantor issues in Cyprus sometime between March 7 and 22. Both countries are expected to focus their discussions on the presence of Greek and Turkish troops on the island after a solution. Nevertheless the Annan plan currently stipulates that both countries must limit their military presence to 6,000 soldiers each.

ALITHIA: “Full speed ahead for second phase”. Time is running out for both sides to come to an agreement before UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan is forced to go ahead and implement the second phase of the talks. However, the problem is neither side has managed to bridge any differences beyond stating their own positions. If the talks continue along these lines, it is considered unavoidable that the process will continue in the presence of Greek and Turkish representatives.

MACHI: “DISY wants Greek national anthem and flag”. In light of a federal solution, the Greek Cypriot state should maintain the Greek national anthem and Greek flag. This position was supported by DISY’s legal committee at Wednesday night’s meeting. The support was almost unanimous, but opposed by the committee’s president, Chris Triantafyllides and a member of the executive committee, Soteris Drakou, which caused a stir among the remaining members.

POLITIS: “Five changes to the Annan plan”. Foreign intermediaries have proposed five changes to the Annan plan in an effort to appease both sides’ demands following the realisation of the need to change the existing image of the current plan as unacceptable. These suggestions refer to border alignments, the return of Greek Cypriot refugees under Turkish Cypriot rule, the Presidential Council, the military and the court of first instance.

HARAVGHI: “Denktash undermines talks”. The climate during the talks is negative due to the Turkish side’s stance. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, President Tassos Papadopoulos referred to the Turkish Cypriot leader’s attempt to undermine the talks after Denktash took up time to present his “vision” of two people with separate self-governing rights and two states based on national and religious purity.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.